Joseph Buhagiar received his B.Eng (Hons) degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Malta in 2003. He joined the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering of the University of Malta as an Assistant Lecturer in 2004 and in 2008 he received a PhD degree in Plasma Surface Engineering and Characterisation of Biomedical Stainless Steels, at the University of Birmingham (UK). Prior to joining the University of Malta he worked as a design engineer with Methode Electronics Malta.
Following his PhD studies at the University of Birmingham, he became a University of Malta Lecturer in 2008. He was promoted to senior lecturer in 2013 and associate professor in 2016. He is on the Editorial board of the Journal of Surface Engineering and represents Malta on the Coal and Steel Committee.
Prof. Ing. Buhagiar’s current research interest is in the fields of biomaterials, biodegradation and surface engineering of biomedical materials. He is the project leader of the BioSA project (Biodegradable Iron for Orthopaedic Scaffold applications) and a collaborator in the MALTAHIP project (Development of a low-wearing novel hip joint prosthesis for longer lifespan). Both project have been financed by the Malta Council for Science and Technology through Fusion: The R&I Technology Development Programme.
In 2013 he was appointed Honorary Consul of the Republic of Colombia with jurisdiction over Malta (Decree 0613 of 2013). In 2018 he was conferred the National Order of Merit of the Republic of Colombia in the grade of Knight (Decree 1728 of 2017). The decoration was bestowed since Prof. Ing. Buhagiar's academic profile was fundamental for the permanent support that he gives to Colombian students in Malta and for the links that he has forged between universities in both countries.
Biodegradable Iron for Orthopaedic Scaffold Applications (BioSA) Malta Council for Science and Technology (Kalkara) | 2018-07 to 2021-08 |Grant Project NUMBER: R&I2017-037T Project Value: EUR 194,960 Project Partner: Mater Dei Hospital
Development of a low-wearing novel hip joint prosthesis for longer lifespan (MaltaHIP) Malta Council for Science and Technology (Kalkara) | 2016-10 to 2019-10 |Grant Project Number: R&I-2015-023T Project Value: EUR 199,593 Project Partner: MCL Ltd.
